Food Waste

Food waste is collected every week in Mole Valley at the same time as your waste or recycling collections.

Lining your Caddy

You can now line your food waste caddy with plastic bags or liners, which makes it easier, cleaner and cheaper to recycle your food. You can use anything from old shopping bags to bread or salad bags - and you can continue to use newspaper or compostable liners. Please don't include black bin bags or plastic food packaging.

New machinery splits and removes the bags or liners which are then taken to the energy from waste plant to be turned in to electricity.

Even if you do line it, it is still advisable to wash your kitchen and outside caddies periodically to keep them clean and help avoid any unwanted smells.

What can be collected?

Yes please!

fruit and vegetable peelings

egg shells

bones

tea bags

coffee grounds

anything past its use by date

No thanks

ready meal trays

liquids including milk and cooking oil

For more information take a look at Recycle for Surrey's full list of what can and can't be collected.

Many households in the district use
home composting as a method of recycling food waste. Although this is encouraged, many waste food items, such as meat and fish, cannot be composted at home. We recommend you place such items in your food waste bin for collection.

Collections

All properties in Mole Valley (excluding flats) receiving the food waste collection service are provided with:

7L silver indoor food caddy

23L green outdoor food waste bin with a lockable lid

If you do not have a silver indoor food caddy you can collect one from the Pippbrook offices in Dorking. If you do not have a green outdoor food waste bin you can request one to be delivered by calling 01306 885001. Flats with communal bins will have a small-wheeled bin with a red lid as well as individual 7L silver indoor food caddies for food waste.

When the caddy is full simply empty the contents into the green outdoor food waste bin. On your collection day, place the green food bin at your collection boundary alongside your other bin. Please ensure that all bins are presented at the boundary of your property by 6.30am on your day of collection.

What happens to the food waste?

After it is collected from your outside caddy, your food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility. Through AD, micro-organisms break down the food waste producing biogas which is collected and used to generate electricity, heat and transport fuel. It also creates biofertiliser that can be used in farming and land regeneration.

Love Food Hate Waste

This campaign aims to educate the public on the levels of food being wasted as well as to promote methods and every day changes you can undertake to reduce it.

If you want more information and advice on how to reduce your food waste visit the Love Food Hate Waste website. The website offers advice on portion control, meal planning, understanding 'use by' dates, storage methods as well as a library of great recipes that make the best use of your leftovers.